IPL 2026: Blessing Muzarabani Picks IPL Over PSL, Joins KKR As Mustafizur Rahman’s Replacement

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) named Blessing Muzarabai as their replacement for Mustafizur Rahman for the 19th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Muzarabani, who was supposed to join Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), decided to withdraw from the league to join KKR. The announcement of his withdrawal from the PSL was made on Friday. 

Blessing Muzarabani, a potent pacer in the shortest format

Blessing Muzarabani is one of the most experienced players in the Zimbabwean team. The right-arm pacer has been successful for the African nation across formats. However, it is T20Is where the 29-year-old performs at his best. In 89 games in the format, Muzarabani has claimed 106 wickets while going at an economy of 7.24. His consistency in picking up wickets with the new ball could make him a dangerous weapon at the Eden Gardens when playing for the three-time champions. 

Having not played a single game in the IPL, Muzarabani could be leading KKR’s pace attack, which has been plagued by injuries to Harshit Rana and Matheesha Pathirana. His performance in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026 certainly makes the case for him to take the new ball for KKR. The right-arm pacer played a huge role in Zimbabwe reaching the Super 8 stage of the tournament. In six games, he picked up 13 wickets and was the highest wicket-taker for his team. His economy remained under 8, in spite of facing tough opponents, including the likes of India, South Africa, the West Indies, Australia, and Sri Lanka. 

Why did KKR remove Mustafizur Rahman from their squad?

Due to ongoing tensions in Bangladesh and violent crimes against Hindus in the country, KKR had decided to release Mustafizur Rahman from their team. The decision to release Rahman from the squad ignited a chain of events that resulted in Bangladesh not sending their team to the T20 World Cup 2026 in India. 

KKR IPL 2026 Squad

Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh, Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Blessing Muzarabani, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Rovman Powell, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Umran Malik, Tejasvi Singh, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Rahul Tripathi, Kartik Tyagi, Daksh Kamra, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Akash Deep, Rachin Ravindra

KKR IPL 2026 Schedule

The schedule for the first phase of the IPL 2026 was announced recently. Here is the schedule for three-time champions KKR: 

• MI vs KKR: 29th March, 7:30 PM IST at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

• KKR vs SRH: 2nd April, 7:30 PM IST at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

• KKR vs PBKS: 6th April, 7:30 PM IST at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

• KKR vs LSG: 9th April, 7:30 PM IST at Eden Gardens, Kolkata

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